All the small things is more than a song by Blink 182. It is also a key strategy related to internet marketing.
My company Reality Concepts created a site for Wynn Construction homes in 2008. When the site launched, it was very successful. But over time the responses and leads from the site slowed to a trickle and then basically stopped.
Christy Wynn contacted us to find out what the problem was. As it turned out, it was exactly what the title of the Blink 182 song indicates: all the small things.
We looked at the site and found several areas we could improve and immediately turned things around. After doing just a few recommended things, Christy told us the leads from the web site picked back up to previous levels, and within two months were improved by at least 25% over the peak times in the past year.
What did we find when we reviewed the site? Three main areas were presenting a problem: email forms were filled out but not going to the right place; search engine optimization needed to be updated; and over time, the look and feel of the web site, including the content, needed to be updated. All the small things were adding up.
When a potential home buyer fills out a form and hits the submit button, they are trusting that someone on the other end will respond. Studies have shown that if you can respond within 20 minutes there is a good chance that you will be able to get their business.
Over time with software updates or anti-virus software, your computer system can start to mysteriously filter out good emails. Yes, I know the spam gets through, but the emails you want do not. Even if you database leads, often it is “out of sight out of mind”.
The remedy is simple: fill out the form and test it to see if it is going to your inbox. If the email is going to an offsite sales office, make sure you get copied on each form filled out. Work with your IT professional to be sure the domain is open, or open up a Gmail account and have a copy sent there just to be sure.
In the case of Wynn Construction, the emails were ending up in a spam folder. The problem was fixed when they created a filter in Outlook that sends it to a special lead folder and blinks an alert. Small thing but very important.
Over time trends change, search terms that were popular are no longer, and the way search engines work change with technology. In early 2010 Google rolled out the Caffeine algorithm; a faster search result was promised. The results were that all of the sites that were optimized prior to the update had to be changed and updated. Sites are now penalized on slow load times, and if you do not make it easy for the search engines, they just do not crawl the entire site as often as they once did. Even if you have 20 new floor plans on your site, because of Google’s new search rules they may not see them.
The fix is relatively simple, but does require coding to be done. Bottom line: with the appropriate fixes the search engines crawled the site and found an additional 35 new search terms that the site could be found under that it was not in the past. Another small thing but easily fixed.
Styles and trends change and our websites need to change as well. A few years ago rich media was all the rage. Flashy animations, sound and heavy interactivity were the hallmarks of a well built website. Not so much anymore. Quick and clean is well rewarded by users and the search engines alike.
Can I find what I want on your site and is it accurate? Over time phone numbers change, communities close out and floor plans are no longer built. Take the time to go through the site and be sure that this information is updated. In Wynn Construction’s case, all of this information had been updated but needed to be tweaked, so to speak. It just did not flow as easily as we originally intended. So a quick site remodel is in order. The results are we got rid of all the wordy ad speak and stuck to exactly what people wanted: floor plans and prices.
In this day and age it is tough to balance out ad speak and short attention span theatre. Twitter has us telling our whole life story in about 2 sentences. Clean up text were you can and try to get to the point while balancing out the need for an emotional response. Very tough to do, I know. You need the emotional response to get them off the couch and buying, but the internet user’s attention span is shorter than a 2 year old watching C-SPAN. Welcome to the modern age of marketing. Currently we are doing exactly that, we are reviewing all of the text on WynnConstructionHomes.com and rewriting it when needed.
WynnConstructionHomes.com remains a very successful website. With a little attention to the small things it will be even better. Currently we are remodeling the site to match today’s internet users’ needs while still maintaining an appealing look and feel. The new version of the site should be live by August 1st.
Minding the small things on your web site can make a big difference. Track where each and every lead goes. Keep your site’s search engine optimization up to date, and refresh the content as needed. If you do all of that, then you won’t have to worry about all the small things.
Let us know if we can help.
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